Please help the athletes to be with the coach they want.”
Choi Min-jeong (25), the signboard for the short track women’s national team, posted a post on Instagram on the early morning of the 31st regarding the hiring of a coach for the ice team at Seongnam City Hall.
Choi Min-jung said, “Currently, we are in the process of openly hiring a coach for Seongnam City Hall. After all, it is the players who run the game,” she wrote above.
Along with this, Choi Min-jung posted the ‘Athlete’s Statement on Coach Recruitment’ with the signatures of fellow players on the team. 안전놀이터
The statement said, “We are aware that our ice skating department is currently in the process of open coach recruitment with both coaches and coaches vacant. We believe that this coach selection process should be done in a fair and transparent manner, not by outside influence.”
In addition, “Seongnam City Hall’s ice rink is the team with the most former and incumbent national team players. In order to lead such a great team, I believe that among the applicants, a coach with the best coaching and managerial experience, excellent competence, and communication skills should come. To this end, I sincerely hope that the people involved will help.”
Kim Da-gyeom, Seo Beom-seok, Lee Jun-seo, Kim Gun-hee, and Kim Gil-ri of Seongnam City Hall, who signed the statement, also left the same message on Instagram at the same time as Choi Min-jung.
The announcement of the players’ position drew attention in line with Viktor Ahn’s recent attempt to return to Korea.
Seongnam City Hall posted an announcement of hiring a coach for the skating team in December of last year, and seven people applied, including Viktor Ahn and former coach Kim Seon-tae, who led the Chinese national team at the Beijing Olympics last year. Afterwards, the news that Viktor Ahn was eliminated from the candidacy spread. Seongnam City Hall will announce the final successful candidates on the 31st.
Viktor Ahn, a Korean short track star, was naturalized as a Russian citizen in 2011 and participated in the 2014 Sochi Olympics as a Russian national team, winning three gold medals. After retiring from playing in 2020, he coached the Chinese national team at the Beijing Olympics.
